Birthday
Birthday Jones-Smith was a human living in Merca during the Old Age. A chance encounter with travelers from a distant realm would change her life as she knew it. Birthday was a gene baby, and was originally genetically engineered on calendar date 13183049. She was created for a couple who later failed to provide sufficient credit to purchase her, so legal custody was turned over to a Persephone series Home Convenience System. Persephone raised Birthday from infancy, teaching her how to walk, talk, and had helped her choose a career when she came of age. Birthday had medium-brown skin and rainbow-colored hair which shimmered faintly. One of her genetic characteristics is that she had been born without sweat glands. She typically wore skin-tight bodysuits that included a pocket for her idento-chip reader. Birthday spoke in the alphanumeric language typical of her era, and used a large number of slang terms and colloquialisms. Embarrassment of Riches Living in the Halcyon Heights apartments in the Northwest Quadrant, residing in alcove #1203, Birthday worked from her home as a data archivist. Her job was to transcribe old texts and books, typing them up using a floating light keypad and adding them to a digital archive. In late 2111 A.D., at age 19, Birthday was visited by "Four" Wheeler and Mariposa, who had come through a portal from the New Age and had tracked a delivery drone to her apartment. There was initially a language barrier problem, as Birthday spoke in an alphanumeric code, but Mariposa clandestinely used her telepathy to discern the language from Birthday's mind. Birthday, who had lived a lonely existence, was most welcoming of the visitors, who later included young Talla Unica and the wooden contraption Syzygy. Birthday taught her new friends much about this strange new world in which they found themselves. Before they continued on their way, Birthday provided Four with a transponder, which could summon Birthday's hovercar to their location if necessary. This proved fortuitous after Mariposa passed out from starflower malnourishment and Four collapsed from heat exhaustion, falling upon the transponder and calling the hovercar to them. With no way to synthesize nectar for Mariposa, Four realized that he needed to get Mariposa to the local hospital. Without an idento-chip, though, Mariposa would not be admitted. Birthday agreed to allow Four to choke her, which would instantly summon medical drones after she fell unconscious, and giving Four a chance to swap Birthday for Mariposa. The scheme worked and Birthday was left in the care of Persephone. Some time later, Mariposa returned to Halcyon Heights alone, explaining that Four had been killed by the bounty hunters sent to recover them. Born without tear ducts, Birthday was unable to cry over his loss. Birthday helped Mariposa by exploring the data archives, looking for a spell book or some other means by which Mariposa could open a new portal back to her own time, but Birthday found nothing. When a drone delivery was late, Birthday reached out to her friends Eidolon and Chimera, asking if they were having similar problems. Their responses made Mariposa began to question whether they were real. Indeed, Persephone seemed to be deliberately preventing Mariposa from meeting them, putting Halcyon Heights on lockdown each time she attempted to see them in person. Birthday eventually suggested that Mariposa add her butterfly stories to the existing data archive; Mariposa provided Birthday with enough information that she was able to compose a badly-written book about Mariposa's adventures. Birthday questioned Mariposa on some of her decisions, evoking anger in Mariposa. The conversation was cut short when Talla Unica, weary of the argument, drew a sword and held it to Birthday's neck until Persephone allowed her to leave. Birthday harbored no ill will towards the child. Mariposa returned with Four just in time to celebrate Christmas. As a gift, Birthday gave Four a space suit and invited him to participate in the interactive holovid scenario[[ Space Attack| Space Attack. '']] Within the scenario, Birthday served as the Captain of the ''M.S.S. Centennial, armed with a particle shooter, while Mariposa was her First Officer, Four served as Lietenant, Talla Unica was Navigator, and Syzygy was Petty Officer. While Birthday was trying to follow orders from Admiral Browning and complete the scenario, Four was more interested in breaking ranks and saving Mariposa after her drop pod was lost and she was surrounded by enemy Paash aliens. Birthday was frustrated that her friends went so far off-script, preventing the simulation from continuing when there was no written scenario to cover their unexpected behavior. Later, Four developed a new plan to get home that involved getting deliberately incarcerated and put into long-term cryonic sleep, intending to wait out the Cataclysm and awaken in the New Age. Birthday strongly objected to the plan every step of the way, especially after learning that Mariposa was pregnant with Four's baby. When the plan failed to subdue a drone and rig its battery to destroy Diamond Bridge, Four blamed Persephone, making disparaging remarks about her computer brain. Birthday, offended deeply, revealed that she'd had her encephalon hemispheres replaced with a biomimetic neurosphere. Four's attitude towards her instantly changed, as he was incapable of accepting that she was still human. Birthday accompanied Four and the others to the Rose Law Cryogenics Facility, still expressing doubts about whether it was safe for Mariposa's baby or whether Syzygy was capable of operating the computer controls. In the end, Four and Mariposa and Talla Unica were put into cryonic sleep, with Syzygy left behind to monitor their life signs. Faced with giving up her new friends, Birthday demanded that Syzygy reverse the procedure. When he refused, Birthday fired on him with her particle weapon, damaging but not destroying him. She wasn't in love with him—she didn't think such things were possible with a neorosphere for a brain—but she knew she would miss Four terribly if he were gone. Syzygy retaliated, injuring Birthday and intending to kill her. Right before falling unconscious, she implored him to put her into stasis as well. Syzygy, not particularly wanting to deal with a corpse, agreed to do so. The Veil of Souls Birthday's stasis pod malfunctioned at one point. Syzygy had been given instructions to watch over the pods for Four and Mariposa and Talla Unica only, and was eventually forced to proiritize, salvaging parts from Birthday's pod to keep the others running. Birthday's living form expired, leaving only her synthetic jumpsuit and her neurosphere inside the pod. When Four was awakened after arriving in the New Age, he lamented Birthday's passing, but elected to keep her neurosphere. When he made an off-handed remark about wishing that he knew what she was thinking, the nanobots in his bloodstream complied, attenuating his own neurosphere so that Birthday could remotely communicate with him. Birthday made known her ability to communicate with Four when the thunder dragon known as Dreadnaught attacked the castle-ship Endeavor. Birthday had sufficient awareness of events to suggest that Four that he use the statue in Porticus Umbra like a lightning rod. Four secured one end of his grappling hook to the statue and the other to the dragon's tail, causing the statue to channel the dragon's stored energy, temporarily rendering null his ability to attack. Behind the Scenes Other names considered for the character of Birthday include Birthday Candelabra. Birthday's date of birth is provided as 3049, which is likely an unctual year. The author's notes for the character provide her birthdate as 2092 A.D. Birthday's ultimate fate will be revealed in the fifth book, The Veil of Souls. Category:Humans Category:Old Age Category:Main Characters